Page 32 of Star Mates

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Emmarie stayed busy by helping Leona in the saloon as well as practicing with Harpo, much to the delight of the afternoon lunch crowd. Leona turned out to be funny and kind, looking at almost everything with a sense of humor, the sole exception being the mention of Pikon Brant. Emmarie had seen a lot of couples on their wedding day, and in her opinion, Leona was very much in love with her erstwhile boyfriend.

“Go talk to Lisa,” she encouraged.

Leona bit her lower lip. “What if I was wrong and yelled at him for nothing?”

“You’d rather lose him over your pride? I don’t think you’d like seeing him courting another girl.”

“Hm,” she replied. “You make a valid point. I’ll go after lunch.”

“Go now,” Emmarie urged. “I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She smiled as she watched Leona take a deep breath and leave, knowing that her anger with Pike would be over in a few minutes. She may not know why Pike had been over to Lusty Lisa’s, but she’d bet anything it wasn’t for sex.

As the lunch rush thinned out, she managed to walk over to Harpo and ask if he knew other musicians. She had gotten the idea that they could explore more songs if they had more instruments. He replied he did, but he couldn’t promise they would want to perform on stage. But that night Bishop and Pansy showed up. Bishop played on guitar and Pansy on a type of homemade violin. They blended well and Emmarie liked the musical depth they were able to achieve.

As she sat on the stage looking over the sheet music, a loud bang had her head snapping up. Leona had walked in, back from her trip to Lusty Lisa, with tears in her eyes. Emmarie bit her lip and hesitated for only a fraction before following after her friend.

Leona had gone into the back room, the same one that she had taken them when she and Logan had first arrived. Emmarie knocked softly on the door before opening it. Leona glanced at her as she wiped her nose.

“Are you all right?” she asked her.

Leona nodded. “This is a good cry.”

“Oh. Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Wanna talk?”

“Later?”

“Sure,” Emmarie said and closed the door behind her as she left to rejoin Harpo, Bishop and Pansy.

“Is she still fighting with Pike?” Harpo asked.

“No, not this time,” Emmarie told them.

“Then it’s got to be the meeting coming up,” Pansy replied.

Emmarie swung her gaze to the long, dark-haired girl. “What meeting?”

“We just got word the Durian delegates are coming,” she said. “To talk, once again, about declaring humans as citizens.”

Emmarie blinked. “What’s our classification now?”

“To everyone but the Durians, we’re slaves,” Bishop explained. “To the Durians we’re refugees.”

“And if we get citizenship?” she asked.

Bishop shrugged. “Then to own a human would be against the Peace Treaty Law. We wouldn’t have to be hiding out, flinching every time we see a ship in the air.”

“If the Durian’s are sympathetic to our plight-”

“Doesn’t work that way,” Harpo broke in, shaking his head. “They may feel sorry for us, but to declare us as citizens means they will have to back us in Tribunal Court, financially support us, defend us whenever we needed defending, and so forth and so forth.”

“In other words, we become their territory,” Emmarie said.

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